Asian stock markets rose on Friday after rumors that the United States could remove tariffs on China's imports.

Tesla has withdrawn more than 14,000 cars from the country because of a problem with airbags, officials in Beijing said. Meanwhile, Japan's Nissan Motor Co. said it would cut the number of contracted workers to 700 at its Mississippi plant.

Japanese industrial production falls in November

Industrial production in Japan fell 1.0% in November from the previous month and 1.4% from the same month in 2017, the country's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry said in a revised report on Friday.

Inventories rose 0.1% month-on-month and 0.6% yoy. Shipments, production, and inventory fell by 1.2%, 1.0%, and 2.2% respectively, compared to the previous month. Compared with November 2017, shipments and production were 0.9% and 1.5% higher while inventory share fell 0.3%.

Nissan and Mitsubishi: Ghosn received "improper payments"

Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors announced on Friday that a joint investigation into the misconduct of former President Carlos Ghosn concluded that he had "received improper payments" from the joint venture between Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors (NMBV).

"The joint investigation confirmed that Ghosn entered into a personal contract with NMBV and that under this contract he received a total of 7,822,206.12 euros (including taxes) as compensation and other payments from NMBV funds," Nissan and Mitsubishi said in a statement. "Despite the obvious requirement that any decisions regarding compensation of the Director and the employment contracts that determine compensation must be approved by the NMBV Board.

Ghosn entered the contract without any discussion with other board members, Nissan CEO Heroto Saikawa and Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko, adding they had not received the payments correctly. The investigation showed that neither Saikawa nor Masuko received any compensation from NMBV.

Ghosn was arrested in November in Japan where he was charged with financial misconduct and accused of misrepresenting his salary at $ 44 million. After his arrest, Nissan and Mitsubishi removed Ghosn from the post of President.

Asian stocks trading

• The Shanghai Composite Index was 0.79% in the green zone at 4:30 am CET.
• While the Shenzhen Composite Index rose 0.63% at 4:36 am CET.
• The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong rose 1.04% at 4:40 am.
• In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.88%.
• At the same time. South Korea's Kospi Composite rose 0.61% at 4:19 am.
• The S & P / ASX 200 rose 0.10% in Australia at 4:39 am CET.

The dollar rose 0.10% against the yen and sold at 109.3450 at 4:40 am.